Thursday, June 3, 2010

anais bread is named after its creator anais. she is both my favorite roommate and also the one who made me the most insane. we have a dynamic food history that includes eating mac and cheese out of an electric water heater on our dorm room floor in the wee hours of the morning, nibbling on boozy chocolate sent to us in gargantuan packages from her parents in the mail, hummus fests!, and of course baking as a means of avoiding sufi homework (sorry vhoff, nothing personal). this recipe falls into the last of the categories. it's a garlicy herb bread that's super easy and very flavorful. its also vegan, imagine that...

anais bread:

1 cup warm water

1 tablespoon unsweetened soy milk

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons honey

1 tsp salt

1 package dry active yeast

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1/4 cup ground flax meal (whole flax seeds would also be fine, and if you don't have any flax, just skip it)

combine the flours, flax, salt, and yeast in a large bowl. in a separate bowl combine everything else. add the wet ingredients to the dry and knead well, then coat the ball of dough in a thin layer of olive oil to prevent drying. cover and allow to rise in a relatively warm, dark place (like an oven that's been on for a 3 minutes) for 40 minutes. add the herbs and knead a little more to incorporate. cover again and allow to rise for an additional 30 minutes. coat dough once more with a thin layer of oil, score, and sprinkle with sea salt (or any salt that you have handy). bake in an oiled pan for 15 minutes at 375 F, 20-25 minutes at 350 F, and an additional 10 minutes at 300 F.

delicious both warm and cold, but best with salty, herby, olive oil for dipping.